I think Warren is the smartest candidate. She has policies she has worked out.

[caraher]

5. Or at least we haven't been shown that side of her much

Don't forget, a lot of her early national exposure came through appearances on Jon Stewart's Daily Show. In that context she was, of course, the sincere wonk playing against the jokester. But even just that much shows she was willing to play along in a less-than-totally-serious forum.

Meanwhile from what I've seen she does connect well in interactions with everyday people. I think it's less humor per se than seeming a genuine person that matters, and Warren has that knack. And even a sense of humor (even if it's self-deprecating; see the end of the excerpt):

All of which points to a bigger conclusion: In an environment like Iowa (and New Hampshire!), which puts a premium on face-to-face campaigning, Warren is a natural fit. She seems to feed off her interactions with voters in a way not every politician does, drawing energy from the back-and-forth they have and then, in turn, imparting that energy back to them in a virtuous cycle. Given that Warren’s a law professor known for her skill in the classroom, this isn’t necessarily a surprise. But in Iowa, people who’ve only seen her on TV, or haven’t really seen much of her at all, have said told me she was better in person than they expected. After Warren’s kickoff event in Council Bluffs, Roger Utman of Papillion, Nebraska said: “I’ve heard [Warren] talk a lot of different times on television, but I was really impressed with her…. She’s very personable.” His wife, Nancy, added: “Her sense of humor came out tonight…. I think she’s an intense person, and sometimes I think the intensity that she comes across with doesn’t show the warmth that I saw in person.” (Some go-to Warren laugh lines: being told she was a “surprise” by her mother and not knowing what that meant until she was 30, and imprudently getting married at the tender age of 19 — “following looooooooove,” as Warren put it at one point.)